The N word

The lady working next to me in the office is a very energetic woman who likes to stand up when she is on the phone, her voice therefore travelling across the entire row of desks.

That would be fine (if a little annoying), but it gets rather, let's say, interesting to listen to sometimes – this lady takes care of our business in Mainland China, and her projectile sales pitches are often made in Mandarin. Of course I don't speak a word of Mandarin, so imagine my surprise when her entire conversation is peppered with the word "nigger".

Apparently this word, in Chinese, means simply "that" – a word that, as you can imagine, is used quite liberally in everyday language. Not to mention that when she is stuck for a word, where I would say "erm, erm, erm", she actually says "something something nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger something nigger".

And when she wants to talk about "that gift". Well, that's "gay nigger".

As I said, interesting...!